Does he mean FTC or CMA? Or both?!
In fairness I think one of the issues is many of the āexpertsā and Iām referring to nobody in particular here but many of them especially the market experts rather than the legal ones (but even some of them) simple have shown they donāt understand the regulatory process outside of the USA.
You see things like āCMA know they will lose in courtā. Ermm no thatās just plain wrong.
So when you get stuff like this it always makes you question the validity of these experts and their view of the chance of success.
This is a highly technical thing itās not about mood or feelings or anything else. Itās not about popular opinion or government opinion, not outside the US. So technical issues not āemotional onesā.
The point is, the only real time that was understandable to react was last week. Until then, everything should be taken as a face value and not clear confirmation. When a piece comes from someone that is good, nah. When bad, discuss and confirmed it to be the end result.
Just a rumour but interesting as I automatically expect PS to have marketing for everything anyway.
I did see a report that 82% of disc console sales where on PS5, of course thatās in a specific location not WW, the location you askā¦ the UK obviously.
CMA get it together.
This guy has no idea what he is talking about, please donāt share his nonsense. He promised us a Playstation showcase for September. Iām still waitingā¦
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This guy is a complete fraud
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Thanks both for letting me know, Iāll ignore him to now 
That guy, whoever he is? spell Warner Bros wrong. Thatās a red flag right there lolā¦ He donāt know shit IMO.
That guy just throws out tons of things as rumors and gets 99% of them wrong, and then if he gets something right, he claims it makes him credible. Very, very big Sony fan. Think of that guys account like you would a trade rumor account for a single sports franchise.
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Another reason to hate CMA if they donāt approve the deal.
That has absolutely nothing to do with the CMA. Perhaps look at US employment regulations, laws and protections. Fix the root cause. Not the international regulation of competitive marketsā¦
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It might all be PR to generate certain reactions. I would think Microsoft will try to close the deal even if they have to get rid of COD or Activision. The question will be is ABK willing to go that far. Getting a PC and Mobile developer is far more important to them than COD and I would think if they can manage to just get rid of the IP and still keep the studios that would be fine as they could just give them HALO and tell them to make it their COD replacement. If the COD studios undertake HALO surely, they can make it as big if not bigger than the COD IP.
Nothing to do with CMA? So who are the oneās with the concern? Who are the oneās saying COD is essential? If it is not the CMA, than who is it?
If CMA stop this deal? are they not responsible for Bobby staying at the Head instead of Phil taking over?
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Nah if the deal is blocked there will be a lot of hate going to the CMA. Just look at this thread. Not to mention the blowback from special interests and American business groups like the Chamber of commerce. I would imagine you would be hearing much worse rhetoric than the one from Kotick. Death Valley was it.
Of course not. They have absolutely no remit to decide on the leadership of a company. And canāt and wonāt take that into a competition investigation. Thatās like saying if a football club win a tournament and said club are owned by some bad people its the match referees fault for letting them winā¦
Come on. Kotick is a symptom of the employment culture and practices in the USA. NOT something an international regulator looking at market competition can deal with nor even take into account. Its an utterly absurd line of argument.
Perhaps you know, if there were effective unions, legal protections and proper regulation in the USA then Kotick would already be long gone or at the very least his behaviours would have been altered. But this has absolutely ZERO to do with the remit of the CMA or anyone else. Its completely irrelevant.
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Lets not pretend like regulators have done their jobs if they block this deal. If they block it, its because they started at a conclusion and worked backwards. Even the data that the CMA references as a significant lessening of competition is indicative of an environment where Playstation is in the lead. Their cloud statistics are speculative based on a product that isnāt even out of beta and a āmarketā that has yet to see profit. This is a witch hunt where theyāve concluded someone is a witch and are now going back to look for oddities so they can claim they were correct and its a witch.
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Can someone tell me whatās going Iām lost is this deal about to be blocked?
No one knows. No one. Right now, Microsoft will have to offer remedies to see if itās good for CMA.
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I thought the CMA gave 3 options that they can pursue to get the deal done, I didnt know Microsoft was being forced to do remedies to get the deal done
The CMA has stated that they have concerns about the deal and has listed potential solutions they may accept, at this point they will figure out how effective those solutions are and negotiate with Microsoft to figure out a path forward.
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